While most people look forward with great excitement towards the holiday and Christmas season, some people can’t help but think of the gifts to buy, food to make, company to prepare for, cleaning to do, and of course, the lights that need to be hung. While all of these worries can’t be eliminated, there are plenty of ways to lighten the load. Here are a few tips to help ease the burden of hanging lights!

Take Inventory

Winging it when putting up your Christmas lights can often end up really frustrating. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Don’t ruin it for yourself. It’s important to stay organized along the way, so get all of your lights and outdoor decorations out at the very beginning. See what you have, what works, and what doesn’t work. Plug it all in right now and test everything before you’re up on the ladder. This will save you a lot of trouble later on.

Create a Plan

All great things start with a plan, so now it’s time for you to make yours. Now that you know what you have to work with, organize your lights and decorations either with a list or even a drawing. Professional light installers use measuring tapes to ensure accuracy. Remember that larger bulbs are best on the roof, while the smaller ones are better for detail work. Knowing exactly what is going where will make it much easier for you. If you don’t have enough to do everything you want, at least you now know exactly what you need to buy at the store. Once your plan is complete, and you’re organized with all your lights and other items on hand, it’s time to get to work. Sometimes it’s best to do all the prep one day, and then save the entire next day for the actually hanging of the lights. Rushing will only frustrate and stress you out, and that’s not what Christmas is all about! Watch this great video if you want more tips for hanging your lights.

Execute the Plan

Keeping in mind where the power outlets are, follow your plan and begin hanging the lights. Remember, just take it one step at a time and stay organized. I personally think it’s best to work from the top down, but you can do it however you like. If you have help, maybe split up and tackle multiple sections at once. It’s also important to know how many strands of lights you can plug into each other. Newer LED lights can handle up to 25-30 strands, but older ones may only be able to handle 3-6 at a time. Also remember to hide your extension cords as best as you can. If they’re on the ground, you may want to look into extension cord seals or other DIY options to make them waterproof.

Be Prepared

Putting up lights can be frustrating. When everything's finished, it’s not uncommon for people to be pulling the hair out of their heads. Most just throw all their boxes inside the garage or storage shed with the goal of simply getting them out of sight. While this temporarily relieves the pent-up disgust towards lights, it can create more headaches when the time comes to take them back down. Keep a designated space where you will store the lights long-term and have a system for storing them so they don’t come out next year as a tangled mess. Monkey Bar Storage shelves are a great way of keeping them up and out of the way. Plus, if you prefer to wait until the season changes before taking your lights down, it will be nice to have space in your garage. You’ll likely need to use it at some point.

Taking just a little bit more time to do these extra steps can be priceless to you and your family. If you want some more tips, you can check out this website here. Finally, you can relax and enjoy the company of family and friends during this wonderful time of the year!